Rand Corporation Mean Monthly Global Snow Depth

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Entry ID

G00788

Summary

All available monthly snow depth climatologies were integrated by the Rand Corporation, in the early 1980s, into one global (excluding Africa and South America) digital data set gridded at 4° latitude x 5° longitude. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers monthly climatologies were a primary data source. For data-sparse areas such as China, Greenland, the Arctic and Antarctica, special Rand methodologies were used: empirical evaluation of total precipitation, weather source regions, latitude, temperature, terrain and annual snow depth data. Monthly ice-pack limits from U.S. Navy Oceanographic Office were used to extend the zero snow accumulation line over the oceans. These mean monthly data can be used strictly as a climatological summary or for systematic comparison with simulations from any general circulation model (GCM), or for initiating GCM calculations. Data report copies are also available. The global grid is too coarse to pick up snow accumulation in Africa and South America, but no more than two grid points are involved in these areas.

Data Set Citation

Dataset Creator: Charles Schultz and L. D. Bregman
Dataset Title: Rand Corporation Mean Monthly Global Snow Depth
Dataset Release Date: 1988-01-01
Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO U.S.A.
Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/G00788.html

Data Resolution

Temporal Resolution: Monthly

Location Keywords

• Geographic Region Global Land

Science Keywords

• Atmosphere Precipitation Snow
• Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Cover
• Cryosphere Snow/Ice Snow Depth
• Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Cover
• Terrestrial Hydrosphere Snow/Ice Snow Depth

Ancillary Keywords

• Climatology
• Global Change
• Gridded Data
• Model Input Data
• Snowpack

ISO Topic Category (View Definitions)

• Climatology/Meteorology/Atmosphere

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

National Snow and Ice Data Center
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org
Data Set ID: G00788

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

NSIDC National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/noaa/
Data Set ID: G00788

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC NOAA User Services
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

World Data Center for Glaciology, Boulder
Data Center URL: http://nsidc.org/wdc/
Data Set ID: G00788

Data Center Personnel

Name: NSIDC USER SERVICES
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 180 KB
Distribution Format: ASCII text
Fees: None

Distribution Media: FTP
Distribution Size: 3.3 MB
Distribution Format: PDF
Fees: None

Personnel

NSIDC USER SERVICES
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Phone: +1 (303) 492-6199
Fax: +1 (303) 492-2468
Email: nsidc@nsidc.org
Contact Address:
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
City: Boulder
Province or State: CO
Postal Code: 80309-0449
Country: USA

Charles Schultz
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
1700 Main Street
City: Santa Monica
Province or State: CA
Postal Code: 90406
Country: USA

L. D. Bregman
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Contact Address:
1700 Main Street
City: Santa Monica
Province or State: CA
Postal Code: 90406
Country: USA

Related URL

VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Nimbus-7 SMMR Derived Monthly Global Snow Cover and Snow Depth

Reference

Schultz, C., and L. D. Bregman. 1998. Global Annual Snow Accumulation by Months. Rand Note N-2687-RC.

Metadata Name and Version

Metadata Name: CEOS IDN DIF
Metadata Version: 9.7

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2001-10-04
Last DIF Revision Date: 2006-02-21

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U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM)